Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

For the next few days, nothing much changed on the outskirts of the Secret Realm.

Loose Cultivators came and went. A few faces in the stall area changed, but the lively atmosphere remained.

Every day, people spent ten Spirit Stones to enter the Secret Realm and try their luck. And every day, people came out—some empty-handed, others returning with a full load.

Li Yuan continued his routine: opening the shop to sell Talismans, practicing Alchemy in the evening, and cultivating at night.

News traveled fast in the settlement. The Loose Cultivators couldn’t help but gossip whenever they gathered, and someone was always talking about matters in the Secret Realm.

Whenever Li Yuan went out to buy materials, he would often overhear a few snippets as he passed through the stall area.

"...That guy named Zhou who went in yesterday is back. He was holding a hundred-year-old Red Sun Ginseng, worth at least two hundred Spirit Stones. What a lucky bastard."

"Lucky? He traded his life for it. I heard he ran into a Tier One Top Grade Demon Beast and barely managed to escape after running for half a day."

"Have you guys seen that Loose Cultivator next door, the one in the straw hat? Went in the day before yesterday and still isn’t back."

"If he’s not back in three days, there’s no point in waiting."

"I heard a Qi Refining Seventh Level cultivator went in the day before yesterday planning to rob someone, but ended up getting killed instead. Serves him right."

"Who knows if it was really a counter-kill. What if the other guy was the one who launched a sneak attack? Dead men tell no tales."

Li Yuan listened for a moment before moving on, returning to his shop after buying his materials.

The Secret Realm was a great filter. Many went in, but less than half came out in one piece.

The rest either died in the maws of Demon Beasts or at the hands of their fellow cultivators. Occasionally, someone with explosive luck would emerge with a valuable treasure and become rich overnight.

One morning, Li Yuan was in the shop drawing a Talisman when the cloth curtain at the entrance was pushed aside.

A middle-aged cultivator in a gray-blue robe walked in.

He wore a gray-blue robe with a dark-patterned belt, the buckle of which was engraved with a simplified crest.

The attire of the Li family.

The newcomer made no attempt to disguise himself, openly wearing the Li family’s garments. He had a proper face, looked to be in his forties, and wore a short goatee. His expression was amiable; he didn’t seem to be looking for trouble.

His cultivation was at the Qi Refining Seventh Level.

After entering, his gaze swept across the shop, lingering on the sample Talismans hanging on the wall before turning to Li Yuan behind the counter. He cupped his hands in a salute.

"Fellow Daoist, I am Li Tong of the Li family’s Foreign Affairs Hall."

’He’s announced his affiliation.’

Li Yuan put down his talisman brush and nodded, but he neither returned the salute nor spoke.

Li Tong didn’t seem to mind. He smiled and took two steps toward the counter.

"I’ve heard the Talismans from this shop are of excellent quality, especially the Rejuvenation Talismans and Vajra Talismans. They have a great reputation among the Loose Cultivators. I came by today specifically to have a look."

As he spoke, his gaze paused on Li Yuan for a moment. Then he tilted his head slightly, and a gentle wave of Spiritual Power from his senses swept over.

Li Yuan’s Divine Soul was formidable, so he could clearly feel the probing wave. It was far stronger than that of an ordinary cultivator, even approaching the level of Foundation Establishment.

Li Tong’s brow twitched. He frowned, a flicker of confusion on his face.

But he didn’t press the matter, retracting his senses and glancing toward the back room.

Old Sun was inside practicing Alchemy. The heat from the Pill Furnace seeped through the crack in the door, carrying a faint medicinal fragrance.

Li Tong’s senses swept over the back room for a moment before he withdrew them again.

This time, his confusion was more apparent.

Li Tong suppressed his confusion and looked back at Li Yuan, his tone unchanged. "Let me be direct. I’m not here to buy Talismans."

"I hear you two are affiliated with the Wang family’s outer circle?"

Li Yuan didn’t deny it.

"You two should be aware of the Wang family’s current situation."

Li Tong spread his hands, his tone casual, as if discussing something that had nothing to do with him.

"After your Wang Qu died, the Wang family’s power in this area was significantly weakened. To be honest, it’s a bit of a waste for you two to remain here."

"The Li family is always recruiting skilled cultivators, whether in Talisman Making or Alchemy. The compensation is only higher than what the Wang family offers, never lower. If you’re interested, you can learn about our terms first. There’s no rush to decide."

Having heard the commotion, Old Sun came out from the back room, his hands still dusted with medicinal powder.

He glanced at Li Tong’s attire, then at Li Yuan. He said nothing, but he was clearly deep in thought.

Before Li Yuan could speak, footsteps approached from outside.

The curtain was pushed aside, and Wang Lu walked in.

His gaze fell on Li Tong the moment he entered. His face was expressionless, but he didn’t break stride, walking straight to the counter and stopping.

When Li Tong saw Wang Lu, his smile faded slightly. He cupped his hands. "Daoist Wang."

Wang Lu ignored him.

Li Tong didn’t seem embarrassed. He nodded to Li Yuan and Old Sun. "Please consider my offer, fellow Daoists. I will always be welcoming."

With that, he turned and left the shop. The curtain swayed twice behind him.

Wang Lu watched him go before turning his head.

"How many times have people from the Li family come by?"

"This is the first time," Li Yuan said.

Wang Lu grunted in acknowledgment and didn’t pursue the matter, instead finding a stool and sitting down.

"Let’s talk about the shop first."

Wang Lu took a thin sheet of paper from his sleeve and placed it on the counter.

"After Uncle Qu’s... incident, there’s been no one to manage the business here. The higher-ups have decided that the shop should stay open, and you and Old Sun can keep the Spirit Stones you earn. You don’t need to hand them over anymore."

Old Sun raised an eyebrow.

"When will things go back to normal?" Li Yuan asked.

"We’ll see when reinforcements arrive."

Wang Lu leaned back on the stool, his voice tinged with exhaustion. "It’ll probably be a while."

"The family can’t spare anyone to send over right now. With Uncle Qu gone, the entire outer perimeter has lost a top-tier Qi Refining Ninth Level combatant. A lot of our arrangements have to be readjusted."

He paused for a moment.

"Foundation Establishment Cultivators are forbidden from interfering—that’s a rule from the Primordial Yang Sect that no one dares to break. So, Late-stage Qi Refining experts are the ceiling. Uncle Qu’s strength was top-notch even among Late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, and now he’s just... gone..."

Wang Lu didn’t finish, just shaking his head.

"You two should stay put for now. Don’t leave the outskirts of the Secret Realm if you can help it. I saw the Li family’s people outside. They won’t dare to make a move here, but things could get dicey once you’re thirty li out."

"What about you?" Li Yuan asked.

"I have to return to Qinghe Marketplace to report the intelligence from here." Wang Lu stood up and pushed the stool back into place. "If anything happens, contact me with a Communication Talisman."

After Wang Lu left, the shop fell quiet.

Old Sun stood at the doorway to the back room, rubbing the medicinal powder from his hands.

"So all the Spirit Stones are ours?"

"Yes."

"Alright then." Old Sun turned and went back into the inner room. The Pill Furnace was still fired up.

Life went on as usual. By day, they made and sold Talismans; in the evening, it was time for Alchemy. Old Sun worked at the main furnace, refining his Evil Essence Pills, while Li Yuan used the secondary furnace to practice making Qi Replenishing Pills.

He had been practicing the formula for the Qi Replenishing Pill for some time now. His technique was stable, and his success rate was around sixty percent, occasionally reaching seventy percent.

One evening, Li Yuan sat before the secondary furnace and placed the last batch of medicinal ingredients into it.

The furnace lid vibrated slightly, and a medicinal aroma wafted out from the cracks.

Li Yuan slowly withdrew his Spiritual Power and lifted the lid.

Four Qi Replenishing Pills lay quietly at the bottom of the furnace, uniform in color with a smooth, glossy surface. Four pills from six sets of ingredients—a success rate of nearly seventy percent.

Translucent text flickered at the bottom of his vision.

[Tier One Alchemy — Novice (8/200)]

’I’ve reached the Novice level.’

After crossing the threshold from an amateur to a Novice, the most immediate change was that his perception of the medicinal power circulating within the Pill Furnace went from "blurry" to clear. Before, he had relied on instinct to grasp the right timing, but now he could clearly sense where the medicinal power was converging, when to increase the heat, and when to pull back.

’The condition to make my Alchemy insights permanent is to reach the Adept level.’

’I’m a Novice now, so there’s still one more stage to go.’

’No rush. Alchemy isn’t the priority. Right now, the main focus is still on improving my Cultivation and Talisman Making Skill.’

Li Yuan stood up, returned to his room, and continued to cultivate.